Baseball Roundup 2/25/16

Clay Today Sports

Posted 2/24/16

ORANGE PARK – An outstanding effort by pitcher Tyler Robison led the Ridgeview High baseball team to a 5-2 win in seven innings over Middleburg High School on Thurs., Feb. 18 at Middleburg High School. The win keeps the Panthers unbeaten at …

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Ridgeview High second baseman Christian Draper, right, gets a strong tag on Middleburg’s Alan Burnsed, Jr., after Burnsed tried to steal the base in the early innings of the Panthers’ 5-2 win on February 25.

Ridgeview High pitcher Tyler Robison was powertosser in 11-strikeout night against Middleburg in 5-2 Panther win.

Middleburg High shortstop Alan Burnsed, Jr., stretches out to send ball to first base in Broncos’ matchup with Ridgeview. Ridgeview won, 5-2.

ORANGE PARK – An outstanding effort by pitcher Tyler Robison led the Ridgeview High baseball team to a 5-2 win in seven innings over Middleburg High School on Thurs., Feb. 18 at Middleburg High School. The win keeps the Panthers unbeaten at 6-0.

"It's pretty cool," said Ridgeview coach John Sgromolo. "The kids are working hard to perfect the process which is what we preach. Do what you have to do with perfection and the rest will fall into place."

Robison's dominant, 11-strikeout performance on the mound dominated the Bronco batting lineup with no earned runs, two hits and three walks over seven innings.

"Tyler is our bulldog out there," said Sgromolo. "He takes ownership of the game when he is on the mound."

The top of the second saw Ridgeview take an early lead, 1-0. Middleburg answered in the second with an RBI single by Dan Burnsed, Jr.

The game was never in doubt after the fourth, as Ridgeview scored three runs with two singles.

"The fun thing is, with this being one of the better starts in Ridgeview baseball history, is we start just one senior, our second baseman Christian Draper," said Sgromolo. "We get through this and the next couple of years looks very good."

One run in the bottom of the seventh helped Middleburg High School close its deficit to 5-2. A sacrifice fly by Alan Burnsed fueled Middleburg's comeback.

Ridgeview's Yamil Tosado had two RBIs on three at bats while Austin Kittle, Garrett Barfield and Carlos Gonzalez all had run-scoring hits.

"Yamil is a transfer in from Wesley Chapel and he has added a whole new gear to our offense," said Sgromolo. "He comes from a very solid program and he just wants to be at bat when it's big."

Tosado had the hot bat in Ridgeview's 3-1 win over Westside High on February 16 with a 4-4 day at the plate. Tosado had a double and three singles for the game. Tyler Turner took the win on mound with five shutout innings off three strikeouts.

On Mon., Feb. 22, Middleburg lost a 9-0 decision to Baker County.

Ridgeview heads to Bradford on Tues., Feb. 23 with a county showdown with Oakleaf on Thurs., Feb. 25.

A third-inning two-run homer by Tanner Thomas capped a 5-0 win by the Fleming Island High baseball team over Clay High on Sat., Feb. 20 at Clay High School. Clay dropped to 5-1 while Fleming Island improved to 4-1 with the Clay win and a 9-3 win over Fletcher on Thurs., Feb. 18. On Tues., Feb. 16, Fleming Island beat University Christian 12-1.

"We've been getting the big sticks lately with the guys working hard in the batting cages," said Fleming Island coach Jeremiah Klosterman. "The defense stood out against Clay because they were hitting the ball hard. Our infield was outstanding."

Against Clay, Fleming Island's Matt Whetstone went three for four at the plate with three singles while Thomas hit for two runs. Jordan Imperial and Cory Solomon also recorded RBIs for the game. Will Sarsen hit a double for the Golden Eagles.

Clay hit just four hits on Fleming Island pitcher Chris Hawkins who pitched five innings got great defense behind him while registering just two strikeouts. Whetstone relieved Hawkins and ended the game with four strikeouts.

Against University Christian, Fleming Island registered 12 runs on eight hits with Thomas going 3-3 with two doubles and a single with four RBIs. Sarsen hit for three RBIs.

Zack Blankenship got the win on the mound.

Fleming Island faces district leader Atlantic Coast on Friday in a key battle for the top spot.

On Tues., Feb. 16, in Baker County, three first-inning runs helped Clay to a 5-0 win over the Wildcats.

The Blue Devils scored in the first on a two-run double by Spencer Speer. Speer had two extra-base hits for Blue Devils.

Tyler Spence looked sharp on the mound for Clay with just one hit, no earned runs, three walks and six strikeouts during his three innings of work.

After a stunning season-opening win drought, the Oakleaf High baseball team rattled off a hard-fought 3-2 win over Orange Park High on Thurs., Feb. 18 and an 8-5 win over First Coast High on Fri., Feb. 19, both at Oakleaf High School. Oakleaf recoiled after losing 10-7 to Palatka on Tues., Feb. 16 and 9-6 loss to Clay on Feb., 12.

In the First Coast win, Keegan Barrs drove in three runs with a single in the first inning and a double in the fifth inning.

On the mound, pitcher Chris Mauloni baffled First Coast, striking out 13 batters. Mauloni allowed no earned runs, two hits and three walks over 4-2/3 innings.

Reliever Justin Wager recorded the win for Oakleaf with two runs over 1-2/3 innings. Wager struck out one, walked two and surrendered four hits. Brady Shuey put away the final two outs to record the save.

The bottom of the first saw Oakleaf take an early 3-0 lead off a single by Ty Andrews, plating Isaiah Byars and Wager. Oakleaf pushed more runs across when Mauloni scored on an RBI single by Barrs.

Oakleaf went up for good in the fifth, scoring four runs on a two-run double by Barrs and a two-run single by Ian Marler.

Against Orange Park (1-4), Oakleaf and Orange Park exchanged the lead five times, but Oakleaf ended up on top with the 3-2 win in eight innings over Orange Park.

Oakleaf pulled out the win thanks to a strong eighth inning. A passed ball scored Justin Wager to give Oakleaf the lead for good.

Wager went 2-4, drove in one and scored one run. He singled in the third inning and doubled in the eighth inning.

Oakleaf pitcher Brandon Adames recorded the win for Oakleaf with 3-1/3 innings of shutout ball. Adames struck out two, walked two and gave up two hits.

For Orange Park, Kameron Thomas took the loss lasting 7-1/3 innings, walked one, struck out three and allowed three runs.

The bottom of the first saw Oakleaf take an early lead, 1-0. Chris Mauloni doubled to ignite Oakleaf's offense, before Brady Shuey singled, bringing home Mauloni.

Oakleaf went up for good in the eighth scoring two total runs, which came home on an RBI double by Wager.

The Keystone Heights baseball team (2-2) rampaged for nine runs in the fourth inning to beat PK Yonge 16-3 in five innings on Tues., Feb. 16 in Keystone Heights.

On Mon., Feb. 15, the Indians lost a 4-2 decision to St. Augustine after scoring first in the first inning. Keystone Heights got an RBI-single from Jackson Hicks in the sixth.

Against P.K. Yonge, the Indians scored in the fourth on a two-run double by Tyler Ricketts, a sacrifice fly by Wyatt Harvin, a two-run double by Willie Rogers, an RBI single by Pierson Lewis, a two-run triple by Gage Hall, and a steal of home by Hall.

Hall racked up two RBIs on one hit for Keystone Heights.

The lead stayed with the Indians after the first, when they scored seven runs on a two-run double by Lewis and an RBI single by Harvin.

St. Johns Country Day School's baseball team suffered a 10-0 district loss to St. Joseph's Academy on Mon., Feb. 22.

On Fri., Feb. 19, St. Johns lost a 6-3 decision to Orange Park and on Tues., Feb. 16, Atlantic Coast beat the Spartans 4-0. The losses come after a 4-0 win over St. Francis highlighted by a no-hitter by St. Johns pitcher Troy Britts on Fri., Feb. 12. Britts struck out six batters in the Orange Park loss.

Against Orange Park, Brandon Livingston had an RBI single that scored Tyler Grogg who had singled and stole second in the second inning.

Orange Park scored off four runs in the fourth with Kameron Thomas blasting an RBI double and an RBI-single to Brandon Dumas.